Knight of the Living Dead
by footshooter
Summary: A strange illness strikes Camelot. What follows is an account of the gore & humour, along with the odd really bad pun, as our favourite trio -Merlin, Arthur & Gwaine- learn that the only way now is to remove the head or destroy the brain... M for imagery.
1. Chapter 1

Arthur, Gwaine and Merlin all trudged back into Camelot, soaking wet, freezing cold and dripping with mud. Gwaine pushed his hair back up over his head for the thousandth time so that his vision wasn't obscured by it clinging together, and he wasn't dripping what felt like ice on to his nose. He looked at Merlin, and Merlin looked back at him; both of them exchanging muscle pain and fatigue and cold to the point of numbness as Arthur very valiantly attempted to stride into the courtyard, but didn't quite manage it because as much as he hated to admit it, his legs didn't want to move either. Merlin could feel his hair plastered to his head and he was actually cold to the point of not shivering. He sighed to himself, even his body had given up, stupid pointless mission… Oh, and it's going to take flaming **hours **to get the mud out of the clothes. So that's another few hours up to his elbows in muddy water. At least Gwaine looked as annoyed as Merlin felt, and even Arthur was having a hard time keeping his scowl to himself.

Uther was staring down at them from out of a window, and Gwaine saluted to him in such a way that if he wasn't completely fucking mental these days, would have definitely lost him his head. Arthur half-smiled as well as his ice cube for cheeks would let him, and Uther smiled back broadly, turning away from the window to no doubt come down and see them. Gwen appeared in the doorway, and Arthur smiled more broadly this time as she ran down the steps to greet him, her breath clouding in front of her. He held out his arms, but she stopped short and looked him up and down, wrinkling her nose.

"Good to have you back, sire," she said, curtsying. Arthur dropped his arms, realising what a pleb he looked as Gwaine and Merlin snickered behind him.

"Fuck you both," Arthur muttered.

"No thanks mate, I like to do the fucking," Gwaine said, and Merlin laughed louder, Arthur joining in. Gwen looked slightly disgusted, and slipped off back into the castle as Uther came to the top of the steps.

"My dear boy!" he cried, holding out his arms with his crown lopsided on his head. "Did you find it?"

Arthur looked at Gwaine and Merlin standing behind him, "Er… no."

Uther's face fell, "What, again?"

"The map you gave us… was a bit…"

"Rubbish," Gwaine muttered, and Arthur stamped on his foot.

"Well, wrong. We ended up in a bog. And none of us really know _how _exactly it happened… it just did."

He motioned to the state of himself and Merlin and Gwaine.

"I see. So you failed?"  
"Father -"

"You did not find the creature!"

"I don't think there _was _a creature, father. Even the description you gave us… there is no match in any book we have looked in so far."

Uther's face brightened again, and they all glanced at each other.

"Then we must keep looking! Why are you all standing out here? You'll catch your death."

Uther strode back into the castle leaving Merlin, Arthur and Gwaine to just look at each other, completely baffled.

"Arthur, no offense but do you still not wish to take over the throne?"

"Believe me, Gwaine… sometimes I would take great pleasure in killing him."

Arthur started to move his aching muscles towards the castle entrance.

"Merlin, go and have a bath. I think we all deserve being warmed up slightly."

Merlin nodded to Arthur as he disappeared through the doors.

Gwaine looked at Merlin and nodded, "If it's all the same to you…"

"Yeah, go. It's fine."

Gwaine got halfway up the stairs before frowning and turning round to face Merlin.

"Merlin, you do _have _a bath, don't you?"

"Er…"

Gwaine tutted and awkwardly walked back down the stairs to grab Merlin's arm and pull him up the stairs with him.

"Gwaine, what -?"  
"I can't leave you to catch your death, can I? I'm supposed to be a knight."

"You don't have a problem with not acting like a knight most of the time."  
"Stop being a twat before I change my mind, Merlin."  
"Sorry."

* * *

"You go first." Gwaine said, as he attempted to peel his shirt from his body.

"What? Why?" Merlin said, clearly confused.

Gwaine tutted, "Because I can't imagine you being anywhere near as comfortable as I am with sitting naked in front of the fire until I'm done."

Merlin shrugged, "Fair point."

Merlin walked behind the screen and managed to peel off all of his clothes even though he couldn't feel his hands. Or anything else for that matter. The mud had managed to seep through his clothes and on to his skin, making him filthy, and he'd never been more glad for Gwaine's strange, blunt manner. He hissed as he hit the warm water, it making his skin feel like it was freezing and burning at the same time. Gwaine looked up at him from in front of the fire, and smirked.

"And I didn't want the extreme reaction."

"You bastard," Merlin muttered, his teeth starting the chatter, but Gwaine just laughed.

After ten minutes, Merlin had managed to scrub the dirt from his skin and was now clean and warm, if very pink. He got out of the water and grabbed a towel to wrap around him.

"There's some spare clothes over there, Merlin. Unless you want to sit around like that all night."

"No thanks," he said, picking up the clothes and going behind the screen. "Want me to call for some more water?"

Gwaine laughed, "Like you couldn't just make the water clean again."

Merlin's blood ran cold, and he popped his head out from the screen.

"I'm sorry?"  
"Merlin, I'm not an idiot. I saw the whole thing in the forest."  
"I thought you were knocked out!"  
"It takes more to keep me down than it does for Arthur. Strength, remember," Gwaine said, smirking.

"You can't -"

"Merlin, I'm a mate, am I really gonna tell anyone?"

"No, of course not, sorry."

"Don't worry about it."

Merlin pointed at the water and it instantly cleared and started steaming. Gwaine looked impressed, and got into the water.

"Ahh, that feels nice. Stupid Uther. Why's he gotta send us on those mad missions of his?"  
"He doesn't know what he's doing…"  
"Why does Arthur insist on us actually going?"  
"Keep up appearances I think, make it look like there's nothing wrong."

"Nothing wrong with a man who shouted at a turkey the other day because it was 'looking at him funny'?"  
"Well, you know…"  
"Merlin, it didn't have a head."  
"Well, I know but…" Merlin trailed off and Gwaine raised his eyebrows, waiting for the end of the sentence. "Nah, I don't have anything."

"Exactly. I didn't realise being a knight would involve being sent on wild-goose chases and falling in mysterious appearing bogs in the line of duty of serving a nutter."

"I'm not a knight, and I still have to do it."  
"True."

Merlin heard Gwaine splashing around and muttering to himself as he was stoking the fire.

"Gwaine… what?"

"There's dirt on my scalp! How does that even happen?"

Merlin started to laugh.

"Ahh shut up you stick wielding bastard!"  
Merlin laughed more, and Gwaine couldn't help but join in. eventually he gave up on trying to get the grit out of his hair and got out of the bath, stepping behind the screen and getting dressed.

He walked over to Merlin and plonked himself beside him by the fire. Merlin conjured some food and wine from nowhere and set it down beside them. Gwaine grinned like Christmas had come early, and muttered, "I could get used to this," through a mouthful of bread. Merlin smiled back.

"It's nice not having to hide it all of the time. I mean, Lancelot knows but…"  
"You told Lancelot but not me?" Gwaine said, in mock outrage.

"No, he found… you're having me on, aren't you?"

Gwaine nodded, "You fall for it every time."  
"I know."

It was around an hour (and a bottle of wine) later when there was a knock at the door.

"Yeah?" Gwaine said, and Arthur walked in. Gwaine's face fell.

"Oh no, please no. there's not a giant fucking dancing pheasant somewhere that we need to go hunt down is there?"  
Arthur tried not to laugh, but it didn't really work.

"No Gwaine, I just came to say… Merlin?"  
"That's a weird thing to come to say?"

"No, I mean why is Merlin here?"  
"I'm Gwaine's friend! I'm allowed to be here, Arthur!" Merlin said, outraged (and a little drunk).

Arthur shrugged, "I know, I know. Anyway, I came to thank you both."

"Oh my god, he said thanks!" Merlin said, and Gwaine laughed.

"_Mer_lin, I'll have you know I regularly thank you."

Merlin mumbled something no one could make out.

"Are you drunk?"  
"He's a lightweight." Gwaine said, smiling.  
"I know…"

"Ahh come and join us anyway, it's warm over here and we all need a break."

Arthur smiled back, "I think I may just do that."

As they sat by the fire, drinking and joking, glad for the warmth and the chance to relax, a woman in the lower village started to get a headache. And this headache progressed quite quickly to a full-blown fever. Since she had no family, and it was a cold winter night with no one passing to check up on her, her condition worsened without anyone knowing. The woman stopped breathing in the early hours of the morning, when it was still dark and Arthur, Merlin and Gwaine were passed out on the rug in front of the dying embers of the fire which was still giving out enough heat for them to remain comfortable. The woman opened her eyes and stood back up as everyone around her was snoring. It took her roughly an hour to get out of her house, and into another, shocking the occupants, who tried to calm her down before having to fight her off as someone else rushed to get help…


	2. Chapter 2

The villager was doing his best to hold the woman off, but by now he'd realised something was terribly wrong. Talking wasn't working, and neither was just pushing her back, as all she'd do was hit the floor with a squelch, drip some saliva and blood on the floor, and then bounce back up again with the same growling, snarling fury. The man picked up the closest thing to him, a rake, to protect himself and started waving it warningly towards the woman. But he was a villager, not a trained guard or knight, so he wasn't doing too well.

He swung the rake wildly, and hit her in the stomach – causing her to spit out a load of blood into his face. It didn't keep her down though, and he was wishing for his wife to arrive with a guard, because he was losing stamina, and the woman just _wasn't_. She growled and launched herself at him again.

The commotion had woken up his children, and with horror he saw them standing behind the woman. She stopped dead and begun to turn towards the children, causing the man to panic and shoulder-barge her into the wall. This left a nice congealed blood splatter on the wall and made her considerably angrier. She snarled and launched herself at him, knocking him to the floor and turning her cloudy, red-tinged eyes on him and sinking her teeth into his arm as the children screamed behind him. And then the door opened and his wife and a couple of guards rushed in and pulled the woman off him.

One of them dragged her back, avoiding her teeth while the other helped the man up off the floor.

"Are you alright?"  
He nodded, "Yeah, just a bit shaken. Thanks."  
"What the hell's wrong with her?" The other said, holding the flailing woman at arms length with a look of disgust on his face as she periodically drooled large amounts of spit and blood.

"I have no idea. She just rushed in here and went mad on me."

The guard looked at his arm, which was oozing blood and frowned.

"Yeah, she bit me."  
"Crazy bitch. Do you want that checked out?"

The man shook his head, "Nah, what's the worst that can happen?"

The other guard cleared his throat, "Mate, I think we better get this one to the dungeons before she wriggles out of my grip."

He shook her slightly, and she shrieked, spitting and trying to claw him, her jaws snapping shut.

"Yeah, I agree. Something definitely up with her."

They looked into her eyes, and wrinkled their noses before dragging her off.

"I could do without mentals giving me grief at the end of the nightshift, mind."

"Tell me about it, maybe it's catching, what with Uther and all…"

"Hmm… he's just seeing threats in food though, this is," he paused and looked at her, still squirming and shrieking and attempting to violently assault them.

"Well, I dunno."  
"Madness. That's what it is. Madness has come to Camelot. Again."

* * *

Gwen rushed into Gwaine's chambers to be confronted with the sight of Merlin, Arthur and Gwaine lying on the rug in front of the fire surrounded by bottles. She was annoyed to say the least after searching for Arthur for a good 20 minutes by now, and finding him just sprawled out on the floor. She sniffed, put her hands on her hips, and cleared her throat.

All three boys jumped and sat up, wincing. Arthur coughed,

"Ah, Guinevere," he croaked out, and then looked slightly confused over why his throat felt like ash and his head was pounding and… he was on the floor? Gwen raised her eyebrows.

"Having fun?"

Gwaine smiled his trademark smile, the day after not affecting him as badly as it was Merlin and Arthur. In fact, Merlin had gone back to lying down.

"Erm…" Arthur said, and she sniffed again. Gwaine tried not to laugh at the fact that, well, Arthur was _clearly _in the doghouse.

"I have been looking _all _over this castle for you, Arthur Pendragon. Not only am I now _freezing_, but I was worried. And all you can say is 'erm'?"

He looked at the floor, "sorry."

She made a huffy sound.

"Can we help?" Gwaine said, causing the other two to wince.

"Yes, actually, you can," she snapped. "A woman carried out a violent assault last night upon a villager. He and his family are okay, but she's down in the dungeons bouncing off the walls and snarling at people. Looks like the poor woman's gone mad."

"Sorcery?" Arthur asked, frowning; Gwaine and Merlin exchanged a look.

Gwen shook her head haughtily, "I'm not sure. They only told me the bare minimum. They told me to come and get you because…"

The words 'your father is a nutjob' weren't said, but were thought.

"Okay, I'll be right down."

Gwen exited the room with grace and disapproval. Gwaine sniggered,

"Seriously mate, she's more noble than many of the nobles in this world. Nice choice."

"She's certainly nobler than you," Arthur retorted, and Gwaine shrugged not really seeing this as an insult.

Arthur stood up and cracked his shoulders, "How did you two survive sleeping on the floor for so long?"

"Mate, I've slept in far worse places than this."

"Urgh."

Gwaine jumped to his feet, and Arthur frowned at him.

"Oh, I'm coming with you. I can't _not _really, can I? Not with you in _that _state."

"How are _you _not in a state?" Arthur said, pouting and narrowing his eyes.

"Some of us are born lucky," Gwaine responded with a grin. "Come on Merlin! We're going to see a mad bint."

"Gwaine…" Arthur said.  
"What?"  
"Please remember your status."

Gwaine rolled his eyes and pulled a groaning Merlin to his feet.

"Gwaine, leave me here, I feel like death warmed up."

"Nope, come along! We're a team, remember."  
"How are you so happy?" Merlin said, glaring through his headache. Gwaine shrugged,

"What can I say, I'm a happy guy!"

"I hate you."  
"No you don't, come on!"

Gwaine dragged Merlin out of the room after Arthur, and the headed down to the dungeons to see what the hell was going on in the latest case of crazies in Camelot. And all of them at one stage in their silent journey thought that it was definitely all too often that this sort of thing happened.


	3. Chapter 3

It was dark in the dungeons and they all noticed a strange smell in amongst the damp. Arthur and Gwaine managed to keep up their noble 'mildly disgusted' expression, whereas Merlin gagged and looked as though he was about to throw up.

"Y'alright mate?" Gwaine said, and Merlin nodded – green-faced.

"What is that?" Arthur asked a guard, but he shook his head, believing that if he opened his mouth something other than words would come out. Merlin sympathised.

"Smells like," Gwaine sniffed, "metal, and salt. And bile. And a bit of a corpsey tang, too."

"Thanks Gwaine," Arthur said.

"You asked."  
"Mmm."

Another disgusted guard pointed them towards the corner cell of the dungeon, and they made their way through the dim light and damp corridor towards the cell. The smell was getting stronger, and Merlin really did think he was about to be sick, Gwaine having to practically hold him up.

They reached the cell, but couldn't see anyone in there, and so glanced at each other, frowning. They all took a step forward, squinting through the bars, and then the woman's face popped up, snarling and they all jumped backwards in shock. She began to shriek and stuck her arms through the bars, trying to grab at them.

"Woah…" Gwaine said, and Arthur glanced at him.

"You can say that again." 

Now that their eyes had adjusted, they could see better inside of the cell. The metallic tang in the air was coming from the blood covering the walls. But the blood wasn't as red as it should be; it was more brown and sticky. And she wasn't bleeding out from anywhere noticeable either; she just seemed to leave sticky stains where ever she bounced. And she was bouncing wildly.

"Look at her eyes man," Gwaine said, and the other two flicked their gaze from the state of the cell and the bedraggled woman to her eyes. And they all got chills. They were cloudy and bright blue, with the sclera bloodshot and more red than white.

"What the fuck," Arthur said, as the woman bit down upon the bars in another frantic bid to get to them. She had managed to blister a big lump out of her arms with the bars, and it was weeping the same brownish congealed blood, but she didn't even seem to feel it.

"Merlin," Arthur said, and Merlin stopped staring at the woman in horror to look at Arthur instead. "Get Gaius."

Merlin nodded and backed out of the cell, but Gwaine put a hand on his arm to stop him.

"Is this magic?"

Merlin looked back at the woman and shook his head, "No. I don't… it doesn't feel like it. This is something else."

Gwaine's blood chilled at Merlin's words, and he let go of his arm so that he could go and fetch Gaius to take a look. He had a really bad feeling that strength, bravery and magic may not be enough to beat whatever this is – especially if it wasn't magic in origin. He gulped, and forced back a shudder.

"Gwaine?" Arthur said, not taking his eyes off the woman in the cell. "Why would Merlin know if this was or wasn't magic?"

Gwaine's heart stopped, and he looked at Arthur, opening and closing his mouth a few times.

"He's a sorcerer, isn't he?"

Gwaine shrugged, and Arthur sighed.

"Don't hurt him, Arthur. He's saved your life more times than you could know."

"I'm not _going _to, Gwaine." Arthur sounded dejected. "This is all I need right now."

"He's still Merlin."

"Yeah."

"Arthur-"

"Look, can we just leave this for now? I think we've got bigger things going on right now."

"You think this is gonna be bad?"  
"I don't know. I just hope that this is it."

"We're in Camelot though, since when was one thing ever _it_?"

"Angel of Death there, thanks."

They both looked back at the woman, who had stopped screeching and flailing and was just stood there staring at them with those eyes, and both hoped to any higher powers that this _was _it, and that fate would give them a break.

But since when did fate ever give Camelot a break?


	4. Chapter 4

Merlin arrived back into the dungeons with Gaius at his heels.

"My, my. That smell!" Gaius said, wrinkling his nose. "Is there a corpse whom we have overlooked?"

"I did warn you…" Merlin said frowning slightly at the sudden air of tension which had appeared in the room since he had been gone. "Is everything alright?"

Arthur nodded sharply, "Yes, fine."

Gwaine smiled, and Merlin shrugged, putting it down to the situation that they were in right now.

"If you would allow me, Sire?" Gaius said, and Arthur moved out of the way.

"Don't get too close," Merlin said – just as the woman launched herself towards the bars again. Gaius looked her over, and turned back to the men behind him with a raised eyebrow.

"I've never seen anything like this before… I… I'm not sure what to suggest. There is no way for me to examine her properly?"

Arthur shook his head, "Too risky."

"Then I don't know. I can go and check the records and medical books I own in the hope that I will find something."  
"Thank you Gaius."

Gaius paused on his way out, "Her eyes…" He shuddered, and the boys exchanged a look.

"We know."

"Do you think this is sorcery, Gaius?" Arthur asked, and Gaius flicked his gaze to Merlin for a second.

"No, I don't believe so, sire. It resembles most the work of a disease."  
"Like rabies?" Gwaine asked, and Gaius nodded.

"Yes. But this seems to me, worse."

"Do you think you can find a cure?" Arthur asked, and Gaius raised his eyebrow.

"I will try my utmost."

"And what shall we do in the meantime?"  
"If there are any new cases, quarantine them immediately so that they cannot cause any damage. And on doing so, look for a link. If you find one, let me know."

Arthur nodded as Gaius bowed and began to leave the room.

"Good luck Gaius."

Gaius paused, and turned back to them.

"I feel I should be saying the same to you, sire."

Arthur looked back at the woman, who had just vomited congealed blood all over the bars and floor of the cell, and was now snarling at them again. He sighed, thinking that they were probably going to need all of the luck they could get right now…

* * *

Meanwhile, in the lower town, the villager who had initially battled off the first victim was starting to get a headache. His wife told him to lie down while she fetched the physician, and he did so. When Gaius reached his chambers, he was burning up, shivering and tossing and turning in a sleep which they couldn't wake him from.

"Has he done anything different in the last few days? Eaten anything?"

She shook her head.

"Been anywhere different? Drank anything new?"

She shook her head again, "No. the only thing I can think of is infection."  
"Infection doesn't cause a fever like this, has he got a wound?"  
"Yes… that woman, she bit him."

Gaius raised an eyebrow at her, "Which woman would that be?"  
"The one who rushed into our house last night and began to attack us."

"What happened to her?"  
"The guards took her away to the dungeons… is he going to be okay?"  
Gaius looked down at the man, "I'm not sure, but I will do all I can."

Half an hour later, the mans movements stopped. Gaius felt his mouth for breathing, and his neck for a pulse. He looked up at his wife, and her face fell.

"Oh no, please no…"  
"I'm so sorry."

"Oh no!"

She started to cry, and Gaius held her until she had calmed down.

Once she was calmer, Gaius looked at her sympathetically.

"I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but we are going to need to take the body. We believe there may be an outbreak of a disease, and to prevent it from spreading…"  
She nodded. "Can I say goodbye?"  
"Of course you can."

The woman walked over to her husband, tears silently falling down her cheeks, and grabbed his hand.

"I'm going to miss you… and… I love you. I always will."

She kissed her husbands lips goodbye, and then stood up, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"I'll go and tell the children," she said, and he nodded.

"I shall go and inform the prince."

They both left the hut at the same time, trusting that no one would go inside, and Gaius gave the woman a friendly pat on the shoulder. She smiled weakly at him, and set off to find her children. And neither of them noticed her husbands hand twitch behind them…

* * *

**A/N: **Hello! I haven't had a chance to introduce myself on any of my fics yet, have I? I usually ramble all over them! Anyway, sorry, I know the last couple of chapters have been short and I've been skipping over the details which warrant this fic to be an M, but believe me, it's gonna start quickening its pace from now on as the introduction is over and my morbid story telling can start to shine. But come on, Merlin and zombies? It **had **to be done! It was just _begging _for it. Anyway, thanks for reading! I'll have the next chapter up as soon as I can!


	5. Chapter 5

Arthur, Gwaine and Merlin all rushed down to the village when a guard mentioned that Gaius was concerned about a body he had just failed to treat. In fact, Gwaine nearly knocked Gaius over while they were attempting to disperse the crowds and run at the same time, and had to regain his own balance pretty quickly to support to old mans too.

"Holy shit! Sorry Gaius," Gwaine said, still holding Gaius' arms as Arthur glared at him.

"No matter boy," Gaius said, looking down at his wrists. Gwaine coughed and let go. "Are you in a rush?"

"Gaius, you said you failed to treat what you suspect is a case," Arthur said and Gaius nodded, "Yes sire."

Merlin looked at Gaius expectantly "And…?"  
"Oh, well, there is no rush. He's dead. But we will need to move the body."

The men nodded, and followed Gaius to the house.

"Anything defining?" Arthur asked.

"Fever, headache, nausea, chapped lips… it is not far different from the winter ailments which pass around."

"And so it must be incredibly difficult to tell the difference. Until they start spewing blood, of course."

"Gwaine, tact!" Arthur snapped.

"He is right sire. Even if he did put it in a rather… unorthodox way."

They reached the door, and Gaius pushed it open, "He's in here."

The three men followed Gaius into the house, but Gaius stopped dead.

"Gaius?" Merlin said, and Gaius turned around.

"The body is gone."

"Gone?" Arthur said.

"Yes. It was right there."

"Would anyone have removed it?"  
"No, sire. I left strict instructions for no one, to under any circumstances, enter the house."

Arthur strode out of the doorway, and collared one of the neighbours.

"Have you seen anyone enter this house?"

The neighbour shook his head, "N-no sire."  
"This is incredibly serious! No one will be punished if they have, I just need to know."  
"No, I've been here since Gaius left, no one has entered."

Arthur turned back round to the doorway, frustrated.

"Although Tom did leave."

Arthur spun round in shock.

"I'm sorry?"  
"Tom. He left around about five minutes ago. He didn't look well."

"But that's… Gaius!"

Gaius appeare in the doorway behind Arthur, "Yes, sire?"  
"The man who lived here. Tom?"  
"Yes?"  
"He was definitely dead when you left him?"  
"Well, yes sire."  
"You couldn't have bee mistaken?"  
"I searched for a pulse for a good five minutes and could find none, plus he made no marks upon the steel when I checked for breath."  
"So he was definitely dead?"  
"Yes. I know a corpse when I see one."

Arthur turned back to the villager, who was looking puzzled.

"It was _definitely_ Tom you saw? Tom who lived here?"  
"Yes. He didn't look too clever, but it was him all right. We've lived opposite each other years, drinking partners and all that. I'd recognise him anywhere."

Arthur turned to Gaius, who looked severely concerned.

"Gaius-"

"Arthur!" Gwaine shouted from inside the house, and Arthur pushed past Gaius in his haste to get inside.

"What's wrong?"  
"Blood pool."

Gwaine pointed to the sticky, congealed puddle on the floor beside the bed. Arthur leant down, but Merlin slapped his hand away. Arthur looked up at him, half a glare, but the expression on Merlin's face made him stop dead.

"Don't ask me why, I just get the feeling we shouldn't touch it."

Arthur glanced at Gwaine, who shrugged, and Arthur stood back up, his eyes focussing on something else.

"What the hell?" he said, stepping over the puddle and forward towards the back of the house. Gwaine and Merlin followed him, one stopping at each shoulder.

On the floor in front of them lay two fingers, still attached to flesh from the hand and the knuckles. Behind it lay a puddle of blood, and as their eyes travelled up the source of the disembodiment (a large but blunt stone protruding from the wall) became obvious.

"Must've bounced," Gwaine said, cocking his head slightly as Arthur and Merlin turned to him in disgust.

But before either of them could say a word someone outside screamed, and, with the smallest of worried glances at each other, the boys ran out of the house and past Gaius towards the source of the noise, Arthur and Gwaine drawing their swords. But even in their frantic sprint they couldn't miss the blood trail that was headed in the exact same direction they were.


	6. Chapter 6

Some villagers were running away from the source of the commotion, causing the boys to have to dodge and Arthur to try and shout his authority over the noise. It didn't work. Everyone seemed to be in a state of pure panic, and it had split the team up.

"For fucks sake!" Arthur heard Gwaine shout over the noise somewhere to his left, and then he appeared beside him.

"What the Hell, man?"

Arthur shook his head, "They're all terrified. Where's Merlin?"

Merlin popped up beside Arthur to, as if by magic.

"Speak of the devil," Gwaine said, and Merlin looked baffled.

"Sorry about that, the stampede cut me off."

Merlin glared back at the corner the villagers had just passed by.

"This is ridiculous," Arthur muttered. "It's just a man with an illness."

Someone else screamed, and they quickened their pace again, once again raising their swords now that the threat of stabbing a passer by was lessened.

They reached a circle of people, some screaming, some just standing in horror, and tried to push past. The people were so hypnotised that none of them even registered their prince, never mind move to let him through. Arthur finally lost his temper.

"I ORDER YOU TO MOVE ASIDE!" he bellowed, and a couple of people turned to him, wide eyed.

"It's for your own protection!"

They moved, and Arthur pushed past through the gap they had created and into the circle.

The man was in a corner, snarling, his hand half off and dripping, blood coming from his mouth, and what looked like half a pitchfork in his stomach. Gwaine and Merlin glance at each other, Merlin swallowing and Gwaine nudged Arthur.

"He shouldn't be alive."  
"I know."

"We should get these people out of here," Merlin said, looking around at the crowd which contained _children _for goodness sake.

"I don't see how we could without causing mass panic or alerting him…" Arthur said, his voice resigned.

The man jumped up before any of them could react, and tackled the nearest villagers to him. A couple of the crowd tried to pull the man off him, but he just snapped his teeth at them, and the injured pulled away sharply. Some of the crowd were starting to disperse, and the man looked up at them, his cloudy, bloodshot eyes calculating, like a predator. Arthur had been trained to not attack an unarmed man, and that's why he was still stood there, blankly, but as he lunged for another attack, Arthur stepped forward and planted his sword into his chest.

Splashes of blood flew out at a rate that surely should be impossible for such a congealed substance, and landed on the ground and the nearest people. There was a collective gasp from the villagers, and Merlin turned around to try and get rid of the ones still lurking around, but the gossip was already out. While he wasn't looking, he missed Arthur looking horrified as the man simply looked down at the wound in his chest and back to Arthur's face, with a growl. He stepped forward, impaling himself further, and Arthur felt a flicker of fear course through his body.

The man lunged forward through Arthur's sword and grabbed on to his neck. The screaming of the rooted-to-the-spot villagers alerted Merlin that something was wrong and he spun back around just to see Gwaine swing his sword and bring it down upon the mans head with an almighty crack.

His skull split in two, spraying the whole crowd, and Gwaine's sword make a sickening wet noise as he pulled it out of the mans head. He fell backwards, Arthur's sword sliding out and showing the weeping hole through his heart which hadn't killed him. He hit the ground with a thud, and Gwaine dropped his sword, shaking; still staring at the body with the animal snarl still on his face and the blank eyes staring upwards. Arthur's sword was hanging loosely at his side, a look of horror also on his face, also shaking. Merlin took in the appearance of both of his friends and walked over to Gwaine, placing hand upon his shoulder. Gwaine jumped, and then relaxed, seeing that it was Merlin.

Merlin guided Gwaine over to Arthur, who was still staring, and grabbed hold of Arthur's arm.

"You had to. You couldn't do anything else."  
"But I didn't-"

Merlin cut him off with a look, motioning to the villagers still standing around them and Arthur cleared his throat.

"No one, and I mean NO ONE is to touch this body. Understand?"

The villagers nod in shocked agreement, each one of them with a blood splatter somewhere – legs, chest, face; and Merlin turned Gwaine and Arthur away from the scene, muttering, "Tell them to leave," into Arthur's ear.

"It would also be in you best interests to go home so that we can continue to make this area safe," Arthur said, a slight tremble in his voice, and Merlin nodded and started to guide them away; silent and still shaking.

The guards arrived on the scene much too late and Merlin muttered, "Keep everyone away from the scene, okay?" to them. "But don't touch it until Gaius gets here."

The guards looked to Gwaine and Arthur, and Merlin shook his head.

"It wasn't pretty. Just, keep everyone out of the way please. If we quarantine it, it might stop here."

They nod, and Merlin, grateful that they respected his authority in the lack of Arthur's, continued his attempt at dragging his still-in-shock friends away from the scene. They heard a slight sob, and stopped dead, looking up to see a woman to their left, holding her children to her, her eyes bloodshot and sorrowful. Gwaine's breath caught in his throat and his heart missed a beat when he realised that he had just murdered a father in front of his children, and a husband in front of his wife.

"You _had _to," Merlin muttered, pulling them away with more urgency this time in case she decided to cause a scene.

She didn't, and just watched them pass without a word, still holding her sobbing children and silently crying herself. Gwaine and Arthur both couldn't breathe, both want to, _need _to cry themselves, because their organs were clenching inside and they needed to stick up for themselves, tell her that they _had _to, rather than just watch her accusing eyes as they pass. Because the silence feels much, much worse.

* * *

**A/N: **I sincerley apologise if you read this before I realised (and rectified) that for some mental reason I'd switched tenses towards the end. I'm an idiot.  
If you are reading though, thank you! It means a lot.


	7. Chapter 7

Merlin managed to drag Arthur and Gwaine up to the castle, where they stumbled up the stairs for the second time in a couple of days, only covered in blood rather than mud. Merlin had hold of both of their wrists, and they were gaining some worried and curious glances from the castle staff passing by. Merlin got annoyed eventually, after a boy stopped and stared openly at the two knights, and Merlin glared at him and snapped,

"Get someone to bring some washing water to Prince Arthur's chambers."  
When the boy continued to stand there, open-mouthed, Merlin growled and shouted,

"NOW!"

The boy scurried off, and Merlin continued on his way.

He pushed Arthur's doors open, ignoring the questions the guards were asking him, and slammed them behind him.

"Sit," he said to Arthur and Gwaine, but they didn't move.

"For goodness sake!" Merlin exclaimed, and pushed them both into seats.

There was a knock at the door, and Merlin opened it to see the boy from before standing with a bucket full of warm water and a couple of cloths. As Merlin looked down at him, he was straining his neck to try and see into the room, and so Merlin snatched the bucket from him with a venomous "thanks" and slammed the door once again. He sighed, and turned around to the men sat in silence behind him.

Placing the bucket on the table, he wrung out some of the water from the cloth and muttered, "Arm," to Arthur, who looked up blankly at him.

"We need to get the blood off. Give me your arm."

Arthur held out his arm and Merlin began washing the blood off, stopping to rinse the cloth in another bucket and then going back to the warm water he needed to scrub off the already congealed, lumpy blood which was sticking to Arthur's skin. When he got to Arthur's neck where he had been grabbed, a bruise was already forming.

"That hurt?"  
"A bit," he mumbled, and Merlin washed around it as gently as he could.

He rinsed the cloth again; using magic to clear the water and shielding it form Arthur's view. Not that Arthur was looking of course; he seemed to be very interested in the floor at that point in time. He looked at Gwaine, who still hadn't said a word, and put the cloth back in the warm water, his eyes going gold again as he warmed the water back up. Gwaine hadn't been as lucky as Arthur, Merlin knew that. They were all close enough to have avoided too much of a drenching, but Gwaine was more in the line of spray and his whole right cheek, facing away from them right now and covered by his hair, was completely, well, brown and encrusted with the stuff.

Merlin went and sat beside him with the cloth, and he glanced up and into Merlin's eyes, confused.

"We need to get this off. You look like you've just been part of a massacre."

Gwaine smiled weakly and glanced back down at the floor as Merlin cleaned the blood from his arms, neck and face. They had both been remarkably lucky, Merlin thought, to escape such an… incident without injury. Not everyone had been that lucky.

Merlin moved to clean himself up in the mirror, the silence weighing upon him. He didn't know why they felt so guilty, really. Because, yes, they had vowed to only fight armed men, but he _was_ armed, just not with a sword; Merlin thought back to the attack and shuddered slightly, rinsing the cloth again and staring out of the window. I was getting dark, early as always in winter, and a thick fog was rolling in. he'd probably stay here with them tonight, sort out the food and the fire, since they both seemed incapable of doing so. And it's not even like they hadn't killed anyone before, they were _trained _to do so. He glanced back at them, and thought of the woman and the children they had passed, the mans family, and that was probably what was weighing upon their conscience. But, at the end of the day, he would have killed them too, so there really was nothing they could do. They really did have to kill him. Sometimes the greater good came with a price.

He was so caught up in his own thoughts that he jumped when Arthur finally spoke, in a sort of broken whisper that cut through the silence like a knife.

"Can you fix this?"

Merlin turned around to look at Arthur, who was staring at him, and Gwaine who had finally looked up and was staring at Arthur, his mouth slightly open.

"I… what?"  
"You. Can you fix this?"  
Merlin's mouth went dry.

"I don't… know what you mean?" 

Arthur rolled his eyes, "Stop playing the idiot Merlin and answer my question."  
"I… honestly…"  
Arthur stood up and paced towards Merlin, something he didn't recognise in his eyes. Arthur knocked the bowl to the floor, where clear water spread in puddles like the blood of the afternoon.

"I'm no idiot Merlin, and we're really fucked here, alright? So please, if you have any means of helping, any way at all to fix this, now would be a really good time to pipe up."

Merlin's eyes flickered over to Gwaine, and Gwaine shrugged. Merlin looked back to Arthur and shook his head.

"It's not magic in origin Arthur. There is nothing I can do to help."

Arthur seemed to deflate before their eyes, and then he kicked the bedpost, before sitting back down and swearing, head in his hands.

After a couple of minutes he looked back up at them, and shrugged.

"Then I don't know what to do. I don't know how to fix this. I can't save Camelot."

Gwaine put his hand on Arthur's shoulder.

"Mate, there has to be something. We just haven't found it yet."

Arthur shook his head, and put it back into his palms.

"We might have beaten it already," Merlin offered, but the looks he received told him that they believed that as much as he did.

Merlin sat down beside them, and they spent a good few hours in silence, just staring into the fire and thinking of the same thing. The body that lay at their feet, the blood which was absolutely everywhere, and the wife's eyes as they passed; Merlin shuddered at just that, but couldn't place why. He shook it off as just guilt, and glanced through the window, where the view was obscured by the fog which ha gotten thicker still since his last glance. He looked at the others, their features flickering in the firelight, and then finally back to the fire. He felt more helpless than he had ever done before, the fact that Arthur _knew _not even registering in his brain; because he was as worried with what if's as they were. Because what if they really were fucked? It wasn't supposed to end like this…


	8. Chapter 8

Merlin was running through Camelot away from villagers with red eyes and blood flowing freely from their bodies. He spun around a corner and slid in the mud covering the pathway, recovering himself as quickly as possible in order to keep moving. His breath was coming thick and fast, his heart nearly jumping out of his chest and he had a stitch in his side making it harder to breathe, but he had to keep moving. If he stopped, he was dead.

He turned another corner, and there they were, blocking his path, looking up as he approached and growling and baring their teeth and running for him and grabbing at him, nails scratching into skin and _holding _him there so that their teeth could connect with the skin and…

Merlin jerked awake. He was sweating slightly, even though the fire was down to cinders and definitely shaking. He took a deep breath; inhale, exhale, and glanced in the dim light at Gwaine and Arthur, who were slumped on their chairs asleep, seemingly untroubled.

He stood up to get some feeling back into his cramped legs and walked over to the window. It was still dark, but he could barely see anything but pinpricks of light anyway through the fog. He sighed, not having a clue what time it was or when he'd have to wake up and face what was waiting for him outside. He shivered slightly, the dream still fresh in his mind. All of that violence in their red eyes, the snarling, their tearing claws, the biting…

Merlin froze. The woman in the dungeons bit the man from the village. He then went on to attempt to bite other people, just like she had in the dungeon… Gaius had told him while they were in the house that he didn't think it was airborne or many other people would have it; same if it was some sort of parasite or food or water related illness. He had compared it to the disease man caught from wild animals which made them rabid… which they caught from _bites_!

He hurried over to Arthur and shook him on the shoulder, "Arthur?"

Arthur stirred slightly, but didn't wake up.

"Arthur!" he said, more forcefully this time, and Gwaine woke up.

"Merlin, seriously, is there any need?"  
"Yes! There is every need! ARTHUR WAKE UP!"

Arthur grunted and Merlin turned to Gwaine.

"Have you been bitten?"  
"I'm sorry?"  
"That man, did he bite you?"  
"No… but I dunno what that has to do with the price of cheese?"  
Arthur's eyes were open now.

"Merlin, what are you shouting about?"  
"That man. Did. He. Bite. You?"

Arthur glanced at Gwaine, who shrugged.

"Er, no. I mean, he tried to, but Gwaine got him before he could break the skin…"  
Merlin sighed in relief, and sunk to his knees on the floor.

"What's this about?" Arthur asked.

"Yeah, you can't go all mental on us and then not tell us what the hells got you in the state in the first place," Gwaine added.

Merlin looked up at them both, and took a deep breath.

"Okay, well, I might be wrong but…"  
"To be fair mate, no matter how much they doubt you, you're usually right."  
Arthur silenced Gwaine with a glare, and he held his hands up.

"Sorry, continue."  
"But… well, that woman in the dungeon, she kept trying to bite everyone, right?"  
"Well, yes. She'd gone mad." Arthur said, missing the point.  
"And that man in the village, he kept trying to bite everyone, right?"  
Arthur nodded, still not getting it, but Gwaine's eyes widened…

"You think…?"  
"Gaius told me that before he had gotten ill the woman had been in his house and had _bitten _him."

"It's in the bites…" Gwaine muttered, sounding slightly awestruck.

"Maybe," Merlin said, and he looked to Arthur for his opinion.

Arthur was sitting staring at the floor, his jaw set in a determined sort of way. There was silence for a couple of minutes while he sat, deep in thought, and then he looked up.

"How long from being bitten did it take for him to get ill?"  
"They brought her in last night according to Gwen," Gwaine said.

"And she can't have bitten him long before they brought her in or else… well, she probably would have made more of a mess. And he was sick by just after midday," Merlin said, and then he gulped.

"Which means it only takes a matter of hours… and it probably depends on the severity of the bite," Gwaine added.

"Fuck," Arthur muttered to himself. "Some of the villagers got bitten pretty badly…"

"We should still have time, I'm sure we haven't been asleep _that _long," Merlin added, crossing his fingers behind his back and thinking _please_.

"We need to gather every guard we can and get every villager who has been bitten into quarantine as soon as possible," Arthur said, standing up.

"Gaius will know who has been bitten, we should see him first."  
"You get him, Gwaine and I will brief the guards."  
Merlin nodded, and they left the room, walking in silence until they reached the corridor where they needed to split up.

"Merlin, be quick, and meet us in the courtyard. _Do not _go out there on your own."  
Merlin nodded, and Arthur bowed his head.

"Oh and Merlin," Gwaine said.

"Yeah?"  
"Be careful mate, we dunno what's out there yet."

Merlin half smiled, "You too. And you better be waiting for me."  
Gwaine patted Merlin on the back, and they watched him round the corner.

Arthur sighed, and Gwaine looked at him questioningly.

"He doesn't know what he's letting himself into."  
"Neither do we…"  
"We have training…"  
"Arthur, we need him as much as he needs us. You need to remember that."

Arthur looked at Gwaine and then sighed, his eyes resting on the floor.

"We should at least get him some armour; we need all the protection we can get."

Gwaine nodded, "I suppose we should if it's in the bites."

Gwaine looked Arthur over, "I've never seen you this worried before."  
"I've never had to fight a war against nature before… don't you think there are some things you're never supposed to win?" Arthur thought back to the man in the village with his arms around his neck, he could still feel it, smell the blood and decay on his breath and he now knew how close he had been to the same fate.  
"If we're not supposed to win, we won't. That doesn't mean we can't fight."

Arthur looked up at the floor to the determination in Gwaine's eyes.

"We're knights of Camelot. We don't give up that easily, surely?"  
A sparkle of humour joined the determination, along with a trace of fear, and Arthur drew himself up to his full height again.

"No, I don't suppose we do. Okay, let's go and stop this thing once and for all."

Gwaine patted him on the back, shaken from his brooding by the sense of imminent danger and his friends fears, and they went to find the guards and other knights.


	9. Chapter 9

They met up in the courtyard where Merlin had a list of names and houses of those with wounds from the fight. Arthur instructed the guards to round up those on the outlining houses, and sent them on their way, leaving Merlin and Gwaine with him to cope with the centre of the village.

"Eh, I don't wanna sound like a fool, but shouldn't we have more guards where there's more people?"  
"Well, we need them to spread out, make sure we get everyone before anything happens. If anything happens."

Gwaine still looked uneasy, but Arthur smiled and clapped him on the back.

"Come on, mate. It's just routine rounding up of villagers."

Merlin frowned, "Gwaine might be right… I mean, we don't know how long this takes to affect people…"

Arthur rolled his eyes and turned round, "Honestly, you two are fussing like old women! Trust me. That man took _hours _to… well, that… and we're only speculating that it's the bites anyway. Lets just all calm down and get on with it."

Arthur strode off towards the centre of the village, and Gwaine and Merlin looked at each other before following. As they walked, they both started to feel more and more uneasy, Arthur seemingly unaffected. As they walked through the gloom, Gwaine whispered, "The hairs on the back of my neck are sticking up."

"Mine too."

"Arthur seems fine."  
"If there's one thing I've learnt about Arthur, it's that he _never _notices bad vibes."

"You think theres a vibe?"  
"There is _definitely _a vibe."

Arthur stopped up ahead, "Hurry _up_, what are you two doing back there?"

They both rolled their eyes and quickened their pace. Arthur looked at the sword in Gwaine's hand and raised an eyebrow.

"This is one of the houses, isn't it?"

Merlin scanned his list, and then nodded. Arthur nodded back, once, and then knocked on the door, the sound echoing around them in the silent night. Merlin shuddered.

Upon gaining no response, Arthur frowned.

"Mustn't be able to hear…"

Gwaine barked a laugh, "You kidding Arthur? You knock any harder and you'll break your knuckles!"

Arthur frowned, and knocked again – hard enough to sting. Merlin and Gwaine both winced.

"Anyone in there? Open up, in the name of the king!" Arthur said, in his most regal voice, and Gwaine smirked.

"What?" Arthur hissed, and Gwaine shook his head.

"No, no. Carry on."

Arthur scowled, and turned back to the door, then back to Merlin and Gwaine.

"This is pointless. We should just go in."  
"What if they're…?" Merlin blushed, trailing off, and Gwaine and Arthur looked at each other, smirking.

"What?"  
Merlin narrowed his eyes.

"We've given them enough warning, anyway," Arthur said, putting his hand on the door handle. Gwaine nodded, and Merlin shrugged, so Arthur opened the door.

The smell hit them before their eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room. It smelt of blood, and lots of it, causing the boys to have to put their hands over their mouths. They stepped forward, swords in hands, and were confronted with the sight of body parts strewn across the room, the floor sticky and covered in blood. It splashed up the walls and pooled all round the dismembered limbs. The people inside had, quite literally, been ripped apart.

"Were there any footprint outside?" Gwaine said, and Arthur shook his head.

"Well then where is it?"

A growl made them all spin towards the corner, just as the man leapt from the shadows towards Merlin. Arthur swung his sword and caught it in the skull, which promptly split in a hail of blood and brain matter, felling him where he stood, growl still on his face.

They all exhaled, pale and completely shaken.

"If this one has…" Arthur gestured around them, signifying the bodies, and gulped. Gwaine went cold, and Arthur started to move towards the door.

As they did, and echoing scream sounded further into the village, and the shadows started moving. Heading straight for them.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N:** I am SO sorry to everyone out there who is actually reading this and has been waiting upon me for so long. My upload timings are terrible, but I've had a lot of work to be getting on with in the past... well... however long since my regular updates. I promise to try and do better and get this finished for you all soon. But thank you so much to everyone who _is_ reading, and to everyone who regularly reviews and says nice things. I really appreciate it!

* * *

"Oh shit!" Merlin said as he backed out into the street.  
"Merlin, calm down," Arthur said, his voice lowered.  
"But we said! Didn't we? More guards in the centre!"

"Look, it's alright…" Gwaine started, trying his best to calm the situation.

"Is it though? Is it?" Merlin squeaked, his voice rising a few pitches, "What if-?"

"Merlin, shush."  
"Gwaine! We were **right **about this! You were right! And now…what the fuck are we going to do now?"  
"Merlin, seriously, shut up."  
"No, why should I?"  
"Merlin!"

A moan echoed around them, and they all spun round, unable to tell the direction it was coming from.

"Eh, that's why…" Gwaine muttered, as a screech hit their ears.

"Where the fuck is it?" Arthur said, his sword raised and sweat beads starting to form on his forehead.

"It?" Gwaine said. "I think it's more like a few 'its'."

A growl sounded, louder than before, and a figure staggered into the middle of the street a few houses up. It stopped, cocked its head and stared at them through the gloom.

"Do you think it can see us?" Arthur said, and Gwaine tutted.  
"Of course it fucking can!"

The figure let out a growl, and started to sprint down the road towards them, more emerging from behind the houses to follow it.

"Fuck," Gwaine breathed, already turning on his heel and grabbing the back of Merlin's jacket to get him into motion as Arthur shouted "GO!"

The three boys ran through the streets, their footsteps mingling with the sounds of screaming and screeching and growling of the infected villagers who they still couldn't place. They were nearly at the end of the road which would lead them back into the castle courtyard when a group of infected shambled out and, upon spotting them, started to shriek and growl, picking up the pace into a sprint.

"RIGHT!" Arthur shouted, and they skidded down a sidestreet with two groups on their tail. They were all feeling the run by now, their legs and lungs burning in the cold air, stumbling over debris in the paths and trying to keep ahead of the dozen or so behind them.

There was another moan, and a zombie lunged from out of the darkness at Gwaine, who swung his sword and managed to split its skull, spraying blood and brain matter as it crumpled to the ground, without losing too much time. He picked up his pace to catch up with Merlin and Arthur, and cast a glance behind him as he did so.

The group of infected charged over the body of their dead comrade without a second glance or thought, the bones cracking as their feet pounded on to him. a few stumbled over the body but were soon to get back to their feet and join the chase again.

Another three infected dove out of a house, hands outstretched, trying to grab at the men as they ran past.

"For fucks sake!" Gwaine shouted, and Arthur shook his head.

"Give us a break!"  
"I hear you, mate!"

The castle courtyard was in view, and the guards at the gate looked bewildered to see their prince, one of his knights and his manservant sprinting towards the entrance.

"GET THIS CASTLE SECURE!" Arthur shouted, and they hesitated before starting the lower the portcullis Arthur's roar of, "NOW!"

The infected were visible behind them now, and they all unconsciously picked up the pace slightly, knowing that if they didn't, they would be trapped. They reached the castle entrance, and skid under the portcullis, all three collapsing on unsteady legs and breathing heavily just behind it in relative safety.

One of the guards looked down, "Er, sire?" he began, but the first of the infected hit the metal grill, hands reaching through, teeth bared and screaming at the barrier between it and it's pray. The rest soon joined him, and the guards looked down at the mass, pushing and snarling, with wide eyes.

Arthur used his sword to heave himself up, and turned to face the portcullis, Merlin and Gwaine watching from the floor behind him.

"What'd we do now?" Gwaine asked, and Arthur shook his head.

"I don't know."  
"What are they, sire?" a guard asked, still staring. "Demons?"  
Arthur shook his head again, "I don't know for sure, but what I do know is that you can't allow any of them to get in. do you understand?"  
The guards nodded, and Arthur nodded once back at them.

"Eh, sire?" the other guard said, speaking for the first time, and Arthur turned to look at him. He was young, but decent at his job.

"Yes?"  
"Have you tried arrows? I… well… it's just a thought. From up here, you could get a decent shot and maybe take them all out without being in danger…"

Arthur paused for a moment, thinking it over.

"I mean, it's probably a stupid idea but, you know…"

Gwaine looked at Arthur, and rose to his feet, legs stiff from the lactic acid build up, and Arthur smiled.

"You know, that might not be a bad idea."

The guard beamed, and Gwaine smiled back at him.

"What's your name, kid?"

"Ah… Edward."  
"Nice to meet you, Eddie. You think you can handle this fight?"  
"Erm…"  
"Course he can," Merlin said, also standing up, and Eddie smiled again.

"Good," Arthur murmured. "Because we're gonna need all the help we can get."

He turned, and strode off towards the castle, Merlin at his heels.

"Eddie, don't let anything through these gates. Need any help, ring that bell, yeah?"

Eddied nodded and saluted Gwaine, who saluted back with a wink and jogged off behind the others.


	11. Chapter 11

Inside of the castle, Arthur was pacing.

"What do we do?"

Gwaine and Merlin exchanged glances.

"Er, well, the kid might've had a good idea about the arrows," Gwaine suggested.

"Yes, but you know as well as I do how difficult those things are to kill. We could run out of arrows before they go down. And if there are that many outside of the castle, how many are there in the villages? Only three of the knights made it back, and they didn't ring that many of the villagers with them. What if they all get sick? There are already at least four dozen at the portcullis, what if it doesn't hold?"

"What we need," Gwaine said, "is a cure."

"Where is Gaius?"

Merlin shrugged, "I'm not so sure. I think he was heading up to see your father while he waited for whatever he was doing to the blood sample to complete."

Arthur nodded and walked to the door, pulling it open and looking to the guard before stepping back, looking slightly confused.

"Oh. I was just about to call for you."

Gwaine looked at Merlin.

"You sure he's not psychic?"  
Merlin laughed.

"Oh, sire. I've just been tending to your father."  
"How is he?"  
"Thinks he's a duck today, wishes to go outside and swim in the lake. I put him in a bath, said that would wet his feathers enough for one day… but that isn't the point. I have examined the body and the blood and I fear the worst."

"Why?" Merlin asked.

"The body is certainly a corpse. It is dead. Completely and utterly. The heart has stopped and no breath is coming from the person."

The boys nodded.

"The other problem is that of the blood. There is no trace of magic anywhere. This is completely natural in origin."

Gwaine shook his head, "But you have told us all of this before. What is there to be done?"

"I don't know how to kill the dead. That much is up to you."

Arthur nodded, "Gaius, I need you to go to the great hall. The villagers are in there. Make sure anyone who has been bitten is quarantined, including my men, and send the guards to the towers."

"Yes sire."

"Treat any injuries you can."

"I will, sire. And you be careful. All of you."

Merlin smiled, "We'll try our best."

Gaius glanced once more at the boys before him before leaving the room to head for the hall.

"What now?" Gwaine asked, and Arthur's shoulders sagged.

"Now, we go to war."

* * *

I really, really, REALLY apologise for how long this has taken to upload. I've had a lot of personal things going on. Thank you so much to the people who keep passing on lovely reviews - I know you don't have to, so I appreciate it moreso. Also, I apologise for my incorrect usage of the word 'ruin' in the last chapter. No one's perfect. And, yeah, okay this is OOC, you know with Merlin swearing and that. But I really doubt that a full-scale gory apocalypse will happen in a BBC tea-time drama. This is 18+ Merlin, alright? There is swearing. There is violence. There is gore. It's what makes the 'magic' of the story for me. I can't write without swearing, I just can't. If you don't like Merlin telling someone to fuck off, seriously, don't read my stuff because I don't think beheading and zombies is for you. I don't do fluff. It is [b]M[/b] for a reason and Merlin on TV is very far from it, so there are going to be some obvious differences from the show. It's a silly criticism.

Thanks guys :)


	12. Chapter 12

Merlin, Arthur and Gwaine carried the last of the crossbows and ammunition to the towers where the guards were joined by any able-bodied man that could shoot, and distributed them to the few remaining men without.

"Okay men! Listen to me!" Arthur shouted, and the muttered conversations died out.

"I'm asking a lot of you, but for our sake we cannot let them cross our boundaries. Those people are not your families. There is no way we can get back what we have lost, and so, for the sake of Camelot, we have to exterminate it. They won't go down easily, but keep shooting. We're going to set off a signal to draw them in, and then we fight. Men, this is bravery at it's utmost and together, we can win this!"

The men nodded, but solemnly, their eyes drawn to below where the throng of infected battered at the castle entrance. And beyond, to the houses of Camelot where the harrowing screams of the undead and uninfected alike mingled in the air and could be heard; a symphony of pain, fear and anger. The sky was dark, but red reflected from the clouds of smoke filling the air. Camelot was on fire, and everything in the way got burnt.

A scream cut into the horror-filled musings, and shook everyone from their silence. People looked at each other with fear in their eyes and the muttering levels rose.

Gwaine was out of the door first, with Arthur and Merlin on his heels. A young girl stood in an alcove, shaking, and they skidded to a halt.

"Where is it?" Gwaine asked, and the girl pointed.

"Did it bite you?" Arthur demanded.

"I er… no."

"Are you sure?"

"Arthur, calm down."  
"No, but it bit two men who came to help."

"Shit," Gwaine muttered.

"Merlin, stay with her."  
Merlin nodded, and Arthur and Gwaine took off in the direction she said.

"are you okay?" Merlin asked, and the girl nodded.

"Where did the men go?"  
"Go?"  
"Yes."

The girl moved to allow Merlin to look into the room beyond. He moved cautiously towards the entrance and peered inside.

When his eyes adjusted, he could see the pools of blood and mounds of flesh inside. The men weren't going anywhere – they had been ripped apart. He sighed, and turned around to look back at the girl just as she collapsed, revealing a set of teeth imprints on her arm.

"Fuck. GUARDS!"

Two guards came hurtling around the corner, both looking pale and shaken.

"Take her to the dungeons, she's infected."

They looked reluctant.

"Just do it! You won't have an issue until she wakes up, and even then just don't let her bite you."

The guards picked the girl up and started to carry her off, but then the front one stopped and yelled.

Merlin pushed past them to see the torso of a corpse dragging itself towards them, gnashing its teeth and leaving a trail of blood in its wake.

"Oh, really?" he muttered, and his eyes flashed gold as the figure set on fire.

"Now go!"

The guards edged around the corpse, which tried to grab out at them before turning its attentions back to Merlin. It growled, and he gulped. He swung the sword upwards and down with a crack into its skull, whereby it stopped crawling and became limp. Merlin sighed with relief and leaned back against the wall, before inhaling deeply and coughing with the smell of smoke and burning flesh. His eyes flashed gold again and the fire went out, leaving a charred and blackened figure lying on the floor.

He turned away from it with no pity in his eyes and ran.

….

Gwaine and Arthur ran through the corridors with their footsteps echoing around them. They were nearing the source of the screeching and growling, and those noises mingled together with the footsteps to create an almost deafening sound.

"You know where it's heading, right?" Gwaine asked.

"The Great Hall. We need to get to it before it does."

They picked up the pace and rounded the corner on to the corridor which led to the Hall. They could see the doors, and halfway towards them a figure shuffling along towards the sound of voices.

Gwaine whistled as they raised their swords.

The figure stopped dead, and turned slowly to face them. It stood completely still as it cocked its head and sniffed the air. Gwaine felt the hairs on the back of his neck prick up as he realised it was hunting them.

And then the doors of the Great Hall opened, and an unarmed man stood, bemused, looking at first to Gwaine and Arthur and then to the zombie, which spun around to the source of the louder noise and growled. Arthur thought it must have sensed the larger amounts of prey, with less of an ability to protect themselves as it tensed its shoulders and began to run for the doors. The man froze, completely unable to move.

"CLOSE THE DOORS!" Gwaine and Arthur shouted in unison as they sprinted towards the figure, but something in it gave it extra strength and speed and it was closing the distance much faster than they were. The man regained his senses as people started to scream, and began to pull the doors shut. People ran to help, but Arthur and Gwaine still didn't think they would close fast enough and tried to increase their speed, closing the distance as the thing screamed its way towards the hall.

There was a crash as it ran full speed into the doors, and Gwaine and Arthur skidded as they tried to stop before they too hit the wood. Arthur swung his sword and hit the creatures arm as it pounded on the doors, causing it to drop to the floor with a squelch. Congealed blood splurted out from where the limb used to be and splattered the wall beside of it.

The creature growled again, deep in its throat, and started to turn.

"Back up," Gwaine muttered as it faced them, but instead Arthur thrust his sword into its stomach.

It didn't flinch, but instead lurched forward and pulled the hilt of the sword through its body, leaving a red-stained sword stuck in the door.

"Bollocks."

Gwaine swung his sword and cut off the things head as Merlin skidded round the corner, hitting a wall and bouncing back into the middle of the corridor. Blood pumped from the neck upwards before the body crumpled and hit the stone with the crunch of bones and squelch of flesh. Gwaine wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and spat on to the floor beside the body as Arthur pulled his sword out of the door with a slightly disgusted expression on his face.

"My father is going to kill me," he said as he examined the gouge in the door.

"I doubt it," Gwaine said, smirking. "Give him a pond and he'll be happy."  
"That is still your king, Gwaine!"  
"Sorry."

Merlin was staring at the body on the floor.

"What you thinking, mate?" Gwaine asked.

"You cut its head off."

"Yeah?"

"I cut the one upstairs' head off. And in the village, you split its head apart."

"Of course…" Arthur said, and Gwaine prodded the head with his boot.

Merlin looked up and smiled.

"We know how to kill them."

Arthur sighed.

"That's still only half of the battle."


	13. Chapter 13

They stood outside in the courtyard looking through the portcullis at the teeming masses of bodies pressing together in an attempt to shove their hands through the bars and get to the people inside. Gwaine picked up a stone and threw it at one of the zombies, causing Arthur to glare and Merlin to tut.

"What? They can't feel it?"  
"That's not the point!" Merlin said, and Gwaine shrugged.

Arthur sighed, "The numbers are getting more and more as time goes on. We need to act now."

"Yeah…"  
"But how? If we leave the guards on the roof to shoot at them we'll run out of bolts before we kill them all, and Merlin proved that fire doesn't harm them."  
"It might with time…"  
"I'm not sure we have that time. We would burn half of Camelot in the attempt."

Gwaine raised an eyebrow.

"We could go out there with a scythe…"  
Merlin and Arthur both turned to glare at him.

"What? I'm only saying."  
"Do you want to go out into that."  
"Urm, not really. But you were asking for suggestions…"

Merlin put his head in his hands and Arthur muttered something under his breath that sounded like "fucking idiot." Gwaine sat back down on a barrel, smirking slightly.

The portcullis creaked, and they all looked up.

"Whatever we need to do, we need to do it soon," Gwaine said. "That things gonna come in soon."

As if in answer to this, Eddie spun towards them with an expression of terror on his face and shouted, "Sire, the portcullis is definitely weakening. They're starting to move it."

Arthur shook his head while staring at his feet.

"Shit."  
"Shit," Gwaine echoed.

"Shit," Merlin said.

The portcullis creaked again as the bodies pressed together more tightly in a fevered state of rage and hunger.

"It's almost like they know…" Gwaine said, staring at them with narrowed eyes.

"Yes, and that's what I'm worried about," Arthur replied. "We can't let them get into the courtyard."

There was silence for a minute as they all started towards the gate.

"What's the plan then?"

Arthur turned to Merlin, "Fight fire with fire?"

Merlin nodded and Arthur nodded in return.

"Aim for the head!" He shouted into the air, and with that a huge explosion hit the middle of the horde causing zombies to screech and body parts to fly into the air and reign down into the courtyard. The clouds burst and added rain to the ash, and arrows started to shoot into the crowd.

Arthur and Gwaine shouldered their crossbows and started to shoot through the gaps as Merlin tried his best to keep the portcullis standing. It creaked again and Arthur turned to look at Merlin as Gwaine shot a bolt into a zombies eye, causing it to fall back in amongst the throng and become trampled and crushed by the creatures behind it.

"I don't think I can hold it much longer," Merlin said. "There's nothing left to hold it to!"

The portcullis screeched and the zombies took cue to pick up their pushing, filling the air with growls and screeches.

"Ah, I'm not being funny but the fucking things don't seem to be getting any lesser. You kill one and there's another 2 behind it to take its place!" Gwaine said, shooting another down to prove his point.

Eddie lowered his bow and turned back to Arthur.

"Sire, I have bad news."  
"What now?"  
"Well, that explosion earlier…"  
"Yes?"

A scream filled the air, followed by the sound of footsteps running at a frantic pace in huge numbers. The colour drained from the boys faces as they stood.

"We can barely hold these off. When that comes down…" Merlin said with wide eyes.

"How many are there?" Arthur asked and Eddie shook his head.

"Too many to count. They're filling the horizon."

"Bollocks," Gwaine said, and Arthur nodded raising his crossbow again and firing it into a zombies skull.

"Ah, fuck this!" Arthur said, and Gwaine and Merlin turned to look at him.

"What?" Merlin asked.  
"Was that last zombie out of spite?" Gwaine said, smirking.

Arthur spun on his heel and started running.

"Where are you going?" Merlin shouted after him.

"To the fucking stables keep that portcullis up until I get back, Merlin. It's scythe time!"

Gwaine raised an eyebrow, "That doesn't sound good."  
"You suggested it."

"I didn't think he'd take me up on the offer… ah well."

Gwaine turned back to the horde and started shooting.


	14. Chapter 14

Arthur and Gwaine sat on their horses with scythes in their hands and armour covering their bodies. Merlin was fussing, checking the horses girths and the men's armour as the zombies continued their relentless shoving of the gates.

"Merlin, will you just get up there with Eddie instead of fussing? We need you to be able to see," Arthur scolded, and Merlin nodded.

"Yeah, yeah. I will. Sorry."  
Gwaine lifted his visor and smiled, "We'll be fine. Go on."

Merlin nodded and ran off towards the guard tower, climbing the ladder and pulling it up after him. Bolts were still being fired, but at a lesser rate now as they were becoming short of supply. Merlin had offered to make some more, but Arthur declined, saying it would be suspicious just to 'find some' they 'hadn't known about' in an alcove or something.

"You really think we'll be fine?" Arthur said, still staring ahead.

Gwaine shrugged, "I dunno. Maybe. Maybe not. It's what we're here for though, isn't it?"

"I don't think anyone could be prepared for this."

There was a pause while they regarded the horde they were ploughing into, before Merlin poked his head over the wall and smirked.

"Fire, sire?"  
Arthur rolled his eyes.

"Get the line going, Merlin."

Merlin nodded before disappearing back behind the wall. Soon after, there was a loud cracking sound and firing stopped for a second as the men shooting regarded the line of fire that had suddenly appeared before the horde. It didn't cut them off, they merely ran through it anyway, but it served its purpose and they caught fire. The horde began to scream louder in fury and possibly pain as their progress was slowed by the flames eating into their flesh.

"That's gonna stink," Gwaine said, wrinkling his nose and Arthur laughed.

Merlin's head appeared again.

"Has it worked?" Arthur asked, and Merlin nodded.

"They've slowed down. The fire may consume them entirely before they get into reach."  
Arthur and Gwaine looked at each other and smiled.

"The portcullis is coming down, though. Are you ready?"  
The men both raised the scythes they held and nodded.

"Ready." Arthur replied.  
"As I'll ever be, anyway…" Gwaine added.

Merlin nodded and was just about to disappear again when the doors to the castle flung open and Uther appeared in his sleeping-clothes and strode out into the courtyard with dishevelled hair. Gwaine rolled his eyes and Arthur sighed.

"Father, what are you doing?"  
"I heard screaming. Am I missing a party?"  
"No! Look, it's really dangerous out here. Get back inside."  
"My castle. My rules, I'll think you'll find."  
"Oh, so he's remembered he's a king and not a duck now, has he?" Gwaine asked and Arthur glared at him.

"Father, please."

"Look at all of those people. They want to get in. are they here for me?" Uther waved at the horde, "Cooee!"

"Oh my God, this is gold."  
"WILL SOMEBODY GET MY FATHER BACK INTO THE CASTLE, NOW!" Arthur screamed, and Gaius appeared at the entrance.

"Oh thank God, Uther. I was worried sick."  
"INSIDE!"

"Yes, sire," Gaius said, and took Uthers arm, leading him back into the castle.

"Look at the people Gaius, they're here for me!"

"Lovely, sire. We'll get you some tea, shall we?"

"Ooh, tea would be nice. What's that strange smell?"

The castle doors shut behind them, and they heard the bar being placed over the doors.

"Quite a character, King Uther, isn't he?" Gwaine said.

Arthur dropped his head on to his horse's neck, "You could say that…"

"Never a dull moment, eh?" 

"Er, hate to interrupt but the portcullis is dropping. You ready?"  
Arthur and Gwaine looked up at Merlin and nodded once more, sobering up entirely.

"Do it."

The portcullis rocked and the gaps turned into solid iron before their eyes. People gasped as it creaked against the weight and shuddered into position.

"Aim for those we miss! Shoot the head! It is of utmost importance to stop them from breaching the castle doors!" Arthur shouted, and a large explosion echoed throughout the courtyard causing the horses to stamp and whinny.

Gwaine laid a hand on the mare's neck.

"It's alright kidda, no ones gonna hurt you."

He gathered up his reins and the portcullis fell.

They kicked in unison and the horses bolted forwards, shocked by the sound of the metal crashing on top of at least half of the bodies attempting to fight and push their way into the castle and to the prey beyond with a loud crunch. The horses' hooves echoed as they galloped over the metal and into the gap from the throng provided by Merlin's explosion. Arthur and Gwaine braced their arms against the scythes and put their trust into the animals beneath them to keep them safe as the remaining zombies raced towards them, arms outstretched and teeth bared.

The noise they were making was too much for the animals though, and they dodged, weaved and jumped over bodies to keep out of the way of their clutches as their riders swung scythes and decapitated the creatures heading towards them. They kept on going in a straight line, the horses sticking together so that the zombies could only approach from the side and galloped onwards, creating a line of bodies crumpling behind them with their heads rolling to one side and what was left of their blood squirting out of the tops of their necks.

The horses slowed as the riders turned them round to face the scene behind them. They had created a track, walled by masses of decapitated bodies, and the grass was covered in a sticky brownish-red coating. The zombies that hadn't raced for them had attempted entrance into the castle and had successfully been put down by the guard waiting for them.

Arthur and Gwaine lifted their visors as behind them flaming corpses started to trip and fall into the grass, the fie consuming their bodies as they dragged themselves along still reaching out towards their prey. Sweating and shaking slightly, the scythes were lowered, muscles unclenched and they laughed.

Gwaine's horse snorted and shook its head, and he patted it on the neck, still chuckling.

"Urgh, she's right," he said, his nose wrinkling.  
"What?"

"It stinks out here!"  
Arthur sniffed the air and scowled, "Yeah, it does actually, doesn't it?"

"We've got one hell of a clean-up to start over here, haven't we?" Gwaine said, staring through the rain and smoke at the masses of corpses in front and behind him.

"Yeah," Arthur sighed. "But look. Here comes Merlin! And it is his job, after all."


	15. Chapter 15: Epilogue

Hooves crumpled against the ground as the three horses made their way into the outlying villages. Charred corpses were littered everywhere, most of the flames having been put out by the rain, but the occasional one would raise an arm to reach out at them and moan quietly through charred lips as they passed; their bodies close to succumbing to the darkness.

Merlin was humming quietly, staring ahead as Gwaine and Arthur talked either side of him.

"We should create a drainage ditch for the rain to drain the water into. That will prevent contamination of our water supply and fields."  
Merlin smirked, and Arthur looked at him.

"What?"  
"What do you think that explosion was for?"

Arthur rolled his eyes and Gwaine laughed.

"Smartarse."

"And have you noticed how the flames only go out when the body stops moving?"  
Arthur snorted, "I had, actually."

"And the wind, which is blowing the ash into a neat little pile in the centre of the village…"

The horses reached the centre of the village and Merlin stopped, the others following.

"Yes, I get the point," Arthur said. "But magic…"

Merlin's face fell.  
"Oh, c'mon Arthur, really?"  
"Let me speak, Gwaine. Magic is only so much of the solution. You can't do everything yourself, Merlin. And neither can we."

Merlin looked up, "What are you trying to say?"

Arthur smiled, "I'm trying to say good work, Merlin. Everyone fought hard today, and we're going to need to keep fighting to restore Camelot to its former glory."

"Yeah, I mean, what if this thing had hit elsewhere too? It could come back," Gwaine muttered.

"We've already lost too many people. We can't go through it again," Arthur said, looking behind him at the devastation in their wake.

People were walking in amongst the dead, picking up the rain-washed bodies and slinging them into carts placed at intervals. The mood was solemn, but strangely triumphant.

Arthur sighed.

"Nothing back here but corpses, anyway. We should head back. Help the cleanup."

Gwaine and Merlin both nodded and turned their horses back to Camelot.

"You know something?" Merlin said, and Gwaine and Arthur looked at him.

"No, what?"  
"I think if we can beat this, we can beat anything."

They smiled.

"Maybe we can."

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_Little did they know that as soon as they picked themselves off the ground and rebuilt Camelot a big fuck-off lion with a goats head, a rhino's horn, a snakes tail and an elephants trunk would come flying into Camelot on eagles wings, using its trunk as a snorkel to hide in the towns rivers and water supplies when they came looking for it and knock down a few walls, scare some children, give a man a black eye on his way back from Ye Olde Tavern and singe a couple of women's eyebrows with its fiery breath while smelling rather… off. But that's another story for another day, innit? _

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**Thanks for reading! **_  
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